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I've decided to read R.K. Narayan's Ramayana because it uses modern language as outlined on the website. I am already having trouble with name recognition since I have limited experience with Eastern cultures, so having modern language would be helpful. The only experience I have exploring Indian culture was in my film class a year ago. We studied the films of great Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray, and watched his film Jalsaghar (The Music Room). 

In going through the information on the page for the Ramayana, I am nervous since each section contains so many names.  I have only a few questions: First, are all the people in the epic connected or are they in completely separate stories? I saw that there's chapters, but wasn't sure if each one connects to the rest. Another question: I found this picture:

Why are some of the people blue and some aren't? This is something I saw in many of the pictures on the website.